Cheeseburgers with brioche buns

Matty's burger frenzy has struck again. I can't see Burger Fever subsiding anytime soon - the temperature's high and we have the meat sweats something serious. It's dead sexy.

A little while back, I whipped up an Aussie burger with pickled pineapple. The burger itself was out of this world, but I can't claim that recipe - they were Heston burgers from Skinner and Hackett. This time around, I figured I wouldn't mess with perfection. Those patties are too good to be true.

I was going for a simple cheeseburger today. You'd think the key ingredient would be the cheese. Or maybe the burger. But this is a bit of a misnomer. A cheeseburger is really all about the bun. Or the brioche bun, to be exact.

The brioche is perfect - it's relatively light, but dense enough to handle the weight of the burger. That said, given brioche is quite cakey, it important you eat these babies the minute they're served. Unless you like to wear burger juice all over your face and fingers. I'm not here to judge. I'm the one recommending you eat butter bread with medium rare beef, remember?

When shaping your brioche buns, it's important you work them while they're cold. The butter will melt in the blink of an eye. Quicker even (the flutter of an eyelash?) I shaped them into egg rings and pressed down firmly with the palm of my hand to ensure the dough was even.

After the second prove, you'll need to brush the buns carefully with egg wash (oh vicar!) If you've pressed the dough well, you won't have any little wells for the egg wash to puddle in. I can't emphasise the "brush carefully" part enough. Nothing worse than deflated buns caused by overly vigorous brushing. These tawdry lines just right themselves.

Ingredients

Brioche dough - from yesterday's recipe
Egg wash
sesame seeds

4 hamburger patties
4 tbsp tomato sauce
100g cheddar cheese (make it a good crumbly one)
4 cornichons

Yesterday you used 1/3 of the brioche dough. Today you will use 2/3 of the remainder.

Preheat oven to 200ºC.

Shape the dough into circles, and place inside egg rings. Flatten with the palm of your hand and remove the egg ring. Rest for 75 minutes in a warm place.

Brush the buns carefully with the egg wash. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Place buns in the oven for 20 minutes, then turn the oven to 170ºC. Bake for a further 15 minutes, or until dark golden brown.

While buns are cooling, heat barbecue to high. Cook burger patties for around 3 minutes on each side, or until medium rare. After flipping the burger once, top with slices of cheese and sliced cornichons.

Cut open the brioche buns and spread with a tablespoon of tomato sauce on each. Top with a burger patty, followed by the brioche lid. Serve with a cold beer.